A. Introduction of the Problems Addressed
The problem solved involves one related to a long felt need in the gas and fluid industry to have a simple, compact control valve. Over the years, complex and bulky valves have been the mainstay. The new Simplified Flow Meter with Improved Accuracy has particular combinations of materials and features that are unique and novel and are not anticipated by prior art. Likewise, use of Simplified Flow meter with Improved Accuracy provides significant benefits compared to prior art devices.
B. Prior Art
The historical technology focused on devices that only helped with fairly expensive and complex designs. One such device is shown by a 1990 U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,476 issued to Messick. Entitled an “Orifice assembly for gas metering device” the art shows an improvement in the orifice assembly of a high pressure gas flow meter. The overall features and combinations of the device is still complex and associated with a device with numerous interconnecting components. Another device was issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,075 (1992) to Downard, et al. It shows a complex orifice valve assembly which may be utilized to control the flow of a fluent material, such as powdered magnesium, propelled by gas under pressure, the valve controlling the flow in a linear manner. The valve includes a valve body having first and second adjacent concentric bores, the first bore being of a larger diameter than the second bore, and a cross-bore intersecting the first bore, the cross-bore having a cylindrical portion which intersects the first bore and inlet and outlet portions to either side of the cylindrical portion. The device differs greatly from Ertl art in that is uses a complex system and a spherical type orifice as opposed to a disk with an orifice.
Another orifice assembly for gas metering device by Messick is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,201 (1993). This device is an orifice assembly for use in sealed fluid connection between a gas inlet and gas outlet in a gas flow meter includes a rotor positioned for rotatable movement in fluid connection with both the gas inlet and gas outlet. The rotor includes a plurality of bores in a first circular plate and a matching number of gas passageways in a second circular plate, the passageways being aligned with the bores. The device is a series of complex parts and has a non-simple set point method. Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,969 (1996) was issued to King, et al. The prior art teaches a method and a metering valve for metering a fluid by incrementally adjusting a position of a flow control element that directly varies a flow area of a flow port opening in a valve housing. The flow control element is adjustably mounted with respect to the valve housing. The metering valve maintains an approximately constant percentage variation of a mass flow rate of a fluid with respect to the current total flow rate flowing through the flow port opening, for each incremental adjustment of the flow control element position, throughout the metering range of the metering valve yielding an exponentially varying mass flow rate as a result of linearly varying the flow control element position. The multi settings are not a simple disk as shown by the Simplified Flow Meter with Improved Accuracy.
A more recent device for fluid control is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,301 (1998) issued to Shuman, Jr. This device taught a flow meter for a gas pressure regulator. The device is a gas pressure regulator which includes a pressure regulator for connection to a source of high pressure gas, and flow meter or flow regulator that selectively varies the flow rate of delivered gas. The flow meter includes a ring with orifices of varying sizes radially spaced about a ring, with each orifice corresponding to a predetermined flow rate. A manually rotatable cap has a central axial bore and a spool extends through the aperture in both the ring and the central bore of the cap to secure them to the base of the flow meter. Gas is delivered at the selected flow rate directly from the end of the flow meter, rather than from a transverse side. The device is Complex with many component parts. Another U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,483 (2001) was issued to Barcus called a volumetric flow metering apparatus. It reveals a volumetric flow meter that includes a defined volume and sensors that detect when liquid begins to fill the defined volume and when that volume is full. A circuit or equivalent logic providers a manner to generate a signal representative of flow rate based on the size of the defined volume and time required to fill that volume. The whole control mechanism is unlike the Ertl device and components.
Finally, a U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,471 (2007) issued to Lund Bo, et al. teaches a flow meter for measuring fluid mixtures. The device uses a complex set of components and interconnections to provide a measuring device. As far as known, there are no other flow meter devices at the present time which fully provide these improvements and functional characteristics as the present device called a Simplified Flow meter with Improved Accuracy. It is believed that this device is made with fewer parts with improved configurations and physical features to provide more functionality when compared to other currently utilized flow meter devices or methods to measure flow. To the best knowledge of the inventor, this combination and use has not been anticipated by other products, patents or combinations of patents in view of each other. The particular combinations of materials and features are unique and novel and are not anticipated by prior art. Likewise, use of Simplified Flow meter with Improved Accuracy provides significant benefits compared to prior art devices.